The Giroud substitution
This perhaps could be the key reason to France‘s defeat. With the game poised delicately, Didier Deschamps substituted Oliver Giroud for Andre Pierre Gignac deep in the second half. It was a like for like substitution, and would have worked in most cases.
But, against a stubborn Portuguese defense what was required was pace in the final third to unlock the defense which neither Giroud nor Gignac could provide with their towering heights. The best option was to introduce Martial in for Giroud which would have allowed France to have pace in the final third and provided them an extra cutting edge.
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